BELFAST — Every year since 2009, Left Bank Books has hosted a series of talks at which distinguished speakers present educational and informative talks on a wide range of subjects. Modeled after the 19th-century Lyceum tradition, the series has become extremely popular. This year's guests include an Amish man who makes artisanal charcuterie, a Muslim immigrant, an art curator, a Shakespearean scholar, and a photojournalist/author who served as a combat correspondent in the U. S. Marine Corps.

The Lyceum kicks off on Sunday, March 6, at 3 p.m. when Matthew Secich will discuss how and why he recently made profound changes in both his personal and professional lives. Just a few years ago, according to a recent Bangor Daily News story, Secich was the sous chef at a renowned Chicago restaurant "where he made $600 tasting menus for the rich and famous." Today, Secich and his family are members of the thriving Amish community in rural Unity, where he owns Charcuterie, an artisanal business that sells dried meats, bacon, smoked cheeses and other delicacies.

"I hope that when you walk into Charcuterie," Secich says, "you walk back about 100 years. We make everything in-house. We hand-grind everything. There's no processing here." From commanding 40 or more people in world-class kitchens and living the fast life, to learning how to drive a horse-and-buggy and crafting hand-made delicacies in a town with a population of 2,000 – Secich has quite a story to tell.

The Lyceum continues as follows:

An Immigrant's Journey from Somalia to Maine -- Fourteen years after arriving in Maine, Zam Zam Mohamud is changing Maine for the better. Mohamud will speak about her life in Lewiston as an immigrant, a Muslin woman, a single mother, and a community leader and activist. (Mohamud was featured in the January issue of Down East.) Sunday, March 20, at 3 p.m.

Kosti Ruohomaa: The Photographer Poet - Deanna Bonner-Ganter, recently retired Curator of Photography at the Maine State Museum, has written a ground-breaking biography of Kosti Ruohomaa, the photojournalist whose pictures of Maine in the 1940s and '50s captured a vanishing way of life. Her newly published book is the culmination of her decades-long study of Ruohomaa and his work. Friday, April 1, at 7 p.m.
Finding Shakespeare – 400 Years Later – Aaron Kitch, Chair of the English Department at Bowdoin College, will talk about the First Folio, the first edition (1623) of Shakespeare's collected works. Fewer than 750 copies were printed; 233 survive today, of which 82 are in the Folger Shakespeare Library collection in Washington, D.C. This talk will be in celebration of the national tour of copies of the First Folio lent by the Folger to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616. Sunday, April 17, at 3 p.m.

Packed for the Wrong Trip: Abu Ghraib and the Citizen-Soldiers who redeemed America's honor – Zach Griffith, a veteran Marine Corps photojournalist, has written this just-published true account of Maine's 152nd Field Artillery Battalion -- National Guardsmen who, "armed with little more than grace and courage," stepped in to oversee the Abu Ghraib prison after the 2004 revelations of torture. Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m.

All of the Lyceum talks are free, but space is limited. To reserve a seat for any talk, please email (leftbank@myfairpoint.net) or call (338-9009) the bookshop. Reservations are strongly encouraged. All of the speakers' books, or books on the topics being discussed, will be available for purchase at the bookshop. Light refreshments will be served following each talk.